Australian music icon Michael Gudinski dies aged 68
From Bruce Springsteen to Kylie Minogue, the music world is in shock at the sudden death of Michael Gudinski.
From Bruce Springsteen to Ed Sheeran, Jimmy Barnes and Kylie Minogue, the rock ’n’ roll world is in shock at the sudden death of Michael Gudinski, a giant of the music business.
Gudinski died in his sleep at his home in Melbourne. He was 68.
The veteran music promoter — who started managing bands when he was a teenager and launched Mushroom Records when he was 20 — was a beloved figure in the business because of his unwavering commitment to Australian music.
He discovered Skyhooks, signed Split Enz, took a punt on Neighbours actor and would-be singer Kylie Minogue, and kept on discovering and signing new artists throughout his career.
As a concert manager, he brought many acts to Australia starting with The Police and Squeeze in 1980. Other big names included The Eagles, Billy Joel, The Rolling Stones and Elton John, but he was most proud of securing Frank Sinatra in 1989.
“I’ve toured the world for the past 50 years and never met a better promoter,” said
Thank you for believing in us Michael Gudinski. What a sad day. pic.twitter.com/uI9rafbwYQ
— Amy Shark (@amyshark) March 2, 2021
Springsteen, who last toured for Gudinski’s Frontier Touring in 2013.
“Michael always spoke with a deep rumbling voice. Half the time I needed an interpreter, but I could hear him clear as a bell when he’d say, ‘Bruce, I’ve got you covered’. And he always did.”
Jimmy Barnes said his “heart was ripped out … Michael was the rock I reached for when life tried to wash me away.”
RIP to Michael Gudinski, my friend and Australian promoter from Frontier Touring. Love to his wife Sue and family. We’re heartbroken to hear the news #michaelgudinski#australia
— Bryan Adams (@bryanadams) March 2, 2021
Just four weeks ago, Minogue starred in the nationally televised Sounds Better Together concert at Mallacoota oval. The concert, produced by the Mushroom Group and Visit Victoria, was aimed at raising the town’s spirits after last year’s deadly bushfires.
“My heart is broken and I can’t believe he’s gone,” Minogue said on Twitter. “Irreplaceable and unforgettable, I’ll always love you ‘The Big G’.”
Fellow music promoter Michael Chugg, a friend of 55 years, said he spoke to Gudinski on Monday night when they were discussing music and future plans.
“He had great ears, he loved Australian music, and basically he lived his life for the music,” Chugg said. “We were pioneers, grew up together. When I first moved from Tasmania to Melbourne, the first person I met — sitting at a desk at an agency in Melbourne — was a young schoolboy, Michael. He was 15 at the time, and we’ve been friends ever since.”
Gudinski had a lifelong enthusiasm for music, but he never played it. He built a music business empire at the heart of which was Mushroom, but which spanned publishing, film and the Frontier Touring arm.
Born to Russian Jewish parents, he didn’t finish high school and instead headed straight for the music business. At 18, he founded the Consolidated Rock music agency; at 19 a short-lived music magazine called Daily Planet; and at 20 he opened Mushroom Records with Ray Evans. Their first record was a lavishly packaged three-record set, a live recording of the 1973 Sunbury Festival. Gudinski was managing some of the acts on the legendary festival bill and negotiated to record them and others.
Despite this early success, Mushroom’s future was in doubt until he signed the eccentric Skyhooks, whose male lead singer was called Shirley and whose bass- playing songwriter, Greg Macainsh, wrote songs from the Melbourne suburbs.
The band’s first album, titled Living in the 70’s, broke Australian sales records.
After countless Australian and New Zealand No 1 singles and albums, Gudinski topped the British charts in January 1988 with Minogue’s single I Should Be So Lucky. By the end of the decade, she had secured three more No 1 UK singles and two albums.”
Australia's music legend, and a dear friend. Michael Gudinski's love and passion for music and family is like no other. I will forever be grateful for the opportunity he gave me to release my first single and album, and the journey that it took me on for so many years.
— Dannii Minogue (@DanniiMinogue) March 2, 2021
Tributes to Gudinski flowed from singers Paul Kelly and Archie Roach, and bands Midnight Oil and Queens of the Stone Age.
“Michael was a friend, a great inspiration and mentor to many,” Kelly said. “Passionate, enthusiastic, loyal, fierce and, like all true pioneers, a little bit mad.”
A statement on the death of our great Australian promoter, Michael Gudinski. pic.twitter.com/4fJdY8n7Eb
— Bruce Springsteen (@springsteen) March 2, 2021
Shirley Manson, the Scottish singer of rock band Garbage, said Gudinski was “our earliest believer, our greatest champion, our most enthusiastic, honest, courageous, straight-talking record man … big fat tears are streaming down my face.”
Gudinski also loved the AFL and was a keen racing fan.
AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan said Gudinski, a lifelong St Kilda supporter, was “a huge figure in our game”, and Victoria Racing Club chairman Neil Wilson said he “loved his horses and being on the racetrack”.
“He shared in the ownership of Melbourne Cup winners Rekindling (2017), Almandin (2016), and last year’s Lexus Melbourne Cup hero Twilight Payment,” Wilson said in a statement.
Mushroom Group said Gudinski had “died peacefully in his sleep at his home in Melbourne”.
“Michael’s family loved him immensely and Michael, in turn, adored his wife Sue, his son Matt and partner Cara, daughter Kate Alexa and husband Andrew, and their children Nina-Rose and Lulu.
“They meant everything to him, and he was immensely proud of them. Michael often referred to his 200+ staff as the Mushroom Family, with many having clocked decades in his employment.
RIP Michael Gudinski. Seems almost impossible. A towering figure on the Australian cultural landscape.
— Russell Crowe (@russellcrowe) March 2, 2021
I’m not sure we ever agreed on anything, except maybe @edsheeran . Still didn’t stop us from being mates for 30 years. I’m going to miss him deeply. My love to his family.
“Michael’s legacy will live on through his family and the enormously successful Mushroom Group, an enduring embodiment of decades of passion and determination from an incredible man.
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Today the heart of Australian music was ripped out. I felt it, my family felt it, the music business felt it , the world felt it. Michael Gudinski was not only that heart but he was my friend. (Tweet 1/5) pic.twitter.com/Mcck1GOcrX
— Jimmy Barnes (@JimmyBarnes) March 2, 2021
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